1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to network switching devices, and in particular to reducing power consumption in network switching devices.
2. Description of the Related Art
A network switching device, including a switch and a router, is a critical device in a network system. In recent years there have been remarkable increases in performance and capacity of the network switching device accompanying an increase in data traffic sent through the network and accompanying an increase in size of the network. On the other hand, accompanying the increased performance and the increased capacity there has also been a tendency for increased power consumption in the network switching device as well, and controlling power consumption of the network switching device has become an issue from both the perspective of system operating costs and environmental protection.
Technologies that provide a normal mode and a low-power mode in devices that are connected together through a cable are known.
When mode is set in network switching device, problems may occur in the switching process due to the mode setting (for example, the switching process may be interrupted when the mode is being set), and there have been cases wherein this has resulted in extended interruption time of the switching process.